#magnitude

I repeatedly have to correct this belief. In a sense, magnitude involves steps of 10 because every increase of one magnitude represents a tenfold amplification of the ground motion. But there is no 'scale of 10' in the sense of an upper limit. ↗

— Charles Francis Richter

#because #belief #correct #every #ground

My amateur interest in astronomy brought out the term 'magnitude,' which is used for the brightness of a star. ↗

— Charles Francis Richter

#astronomy #brightness #brought #interest #magnitude

There is another common misapprehension that the magnitude scale is itself some kind of instrument or apparatus. Visitors will frequently ask to 'see the scale.' ↗

— Charles Francis Richter

#apparatus #ask #common #frequently #instrument

What emerged, of course, was that the magnitude scale presupposed that all earthquakes were alike except for a constant scaling factor. And this proved to be closer to the truth than we expected. ↗

— Charles Francis Richter

#closer #constant #course #earthquakes #emerged

There are more active volcanoes beneath the sea than on land by two orders of magnitude. ↗

— Robert Ballard

#beneath #land #magnitude #more #orders

Every existence above a certain rank has its singular points; the higher the rank the more of them. At these points, influences whose physical magnitude is too small to be taken account of by a finite being may produce results of the greatest importance. ↗

— James C. Maxwell

#account #being #certain #every #existence